You mean to curl up with on the sofa? Oh, diabetes ... OK.

My favorite book is Mayer Davidson's _Diabetes Mellitus: Diagnosis and
Treatment_, published by Churchill Livingstone. Though written as a
medical text, anyone willing to plow through an occasional dense
passage and keep a dictionary handy will have no trouble with it. (See
below about medical terminology.) Being written mostly by a single
person, it is much better focussed than the "committee" books which are
so common. And it's very cheap for medical books, US$42 in 1994.

Charles Coughran <csc(AT)coast.ucsd.edu> recommends _Management of
Diabetes Mellitus Perspectives of Care Across the Lifespan_, Debra
Haire-Joshu (editor), Mosby Year Book, 1992, ISBN 0-8016-2429-0. He
says it's as good as Davidson, readable, and aimed at a similar audience.

Coughran and Steve Kirchoefer <swkirch(AT)chrisco.nrl.navy.mil> recommend
_Joslin's Diabetes Manual_ by Krall and Beaser, Lea&Febiger 1988.
Though somewhat lacking in consistency due to the multitude of writers,
it's a useful practical book. The Joslin Institute is world renowned
for its support of diabetes research and treatment, and the price of
the book is reasonable.

Coughran further recommends _Joslin's Diabetes Mellitus_ (13th edition)
edited by Kahn and Weir, 1994. It's another book that suffers a lack of
consistency due to the multitude of writers, but it contains a wealth
of information. Lots of biochemistry and also sections on practical
day-to-day management. Oriented toward health care professionals. 1068
pages, $125.

Terence Griffin <griffin(AT)cam.nist.gov> recommends _Therapy for
Diabetes Mellitus and Related Disorders_. It's a professional level book
compiled and published by the ADA, now in its second edition. See below
for ADA ordering information.

Steve Marschman <sc_marschman(AT)pnl.gov> recommends John Davidson's
_Clinical Diabetes Mellitus, A Problem-Oriented Approach_ (2nd
edition), published by Thieme Medical Publications, New York. Written
from a care-giver's perspective, it is an excellent technical resource
book with medical descriptions of diabetes mellitus, diagnosis,
treatment, complications, and concomitant problems. Price about US$150,
but often available used for much less. (As far as I know, the two
Davidsons, Mayer and John, are not related.)

The American Diabetes Association publishes a number of books with
basic diabetes information of various sorts -- self care, diet,
recipes, etc. Deb Martinson <llama(AT)drizzle.com> especially recommends
_The ADA Complete Guide to Diabetes_, about $6 in paperback and
published in 1996.  See the ADA's web site at

   http://www.diabetes.org

or use the phone numbers or address in the following section.

Any university library will have a large number of books on diabetes,
and they will be grouped together on the shelves. Go and browse. The
books mentioned above can be found in most university libraries.

The rest of what I have to talk about is periodicals. See the next
topic.